In continuous inkjet printing technology, ink is typically supplied to a reservoir of a print head under pressure so as to produce a continuous stream, or jet, of ink from a nozzle that is in liquid communication with the reservoir. Periodic excitations, also referred to as activation pulses, are imposed on the ink stream to break up the stream into ink droplets. The ink droplets are deflected from their initial travel path by a droplet deflection mechanism to either a print medium or an ink capturing mechanism, commonly referred to as a catcher or a gutter.
Debris, for example, dust or dirt, when present in or around nozzles of a printhead can cause ink drops ejected from the nozzle to be misdirected or have inconsistencies in drop size or drop shape which may result in reduced print quality. Various techniques for removing debris located in or around the nozzles of a printhead are known and include, for example, utilizing a cleaning fluid and/or a mechanical cleaning assembly to clean the nozzles of the printhead.